Raiders steal ladder double

By Greg Oakford
IN an Anzac Day evening double-header held at Knox last Saturday, the Raiders cemented third spot on the ladders.
The men just got over the line against a resilient North West Tasmania outfit, and the women continuing their hot start to the season took home a 24-point win over Ballarat.
It was a semi-final replay from last season, when the Raiders advanced to the conference grand final with the seven point win.
The first half belonged to import C.J. Massingale who poured in 26 points and helped his team to a 60-52 half-time lead.
Leading the way for the Thunder was McCade Olsen (28 points, 9 rebounds) who was the most consistent performer for the away side.
Meanwhile, Lester Strong continued his recent outstanding form with 25 points and 13 rebounds in a physical encounter with Sam Harris.
In the second half of play, the momentum shifted on numerous occasions but the Raiders managed to keep a 5-12 point buffer throughout until the final minutes of the contest.
Then some sloppy ball handling and decisions crept into the home team’s play with added pressure from the Thunder’s full-court defensive play.
The margin was cut to two with only 41 seconds to go with a Ben Armstrong two-point, but Raiders held on to take victory.
In the women’s match the Raiders set the tone for the game early with arguably their best defensive effort of the season.
The home side kept the Bendigo Lady Miners to just four first-quarter points and connected on 17 of their own.
In the second quarter the Raiders continued their relentless defensive intensity and by the main break the navy and gold had accumulated nine steals and forced their opposition into 18 turnovers.
Caitlin Cunningham, like she has done most of the season, led all scorers with 21 points and nine rebounds, while import Ashlee Dunlap found her feet on the offensive end with 13 points to go with nine rebounds.